One blessing at a time

grilled cheese

I told you that my girlfriends and I went to Crave for dinner on Saturday night to celebrate my bachelorette party, but I didn’t say much else about the meal. Ready for the details?

We started by ordering some wine – a bottle of red and a bottle of white. We sipped away while studying the menu and snacking on the complimentary warm bread and butter.

After much indecisiveness on everyone’s part, we were ready to order. I ultimately decided to order the Spinach and Tomato Grilled Cheese ($9) as an appetizer for the table to share. I knew I HAD to have it one way or another, but most of the girls were ordering some of the more expensive entrees. I felt like I should get something a little fancier too, but didn’t want to give up the grilled cheese. This was a perfect compromise. I could have a few bites of my grilled cheese and also get a fancier dish as my main meal.

It was just as good as I remembered and it was gone in no time. Everyone quickly knew why I love this sandwich so much.

Now, if I thought I was in love with the grilled cheese, I fell even more in love with the Sea Scallops ($25) I ordered for my entree. The seared scallops were served with green beans and the most amazing lobster risotto in the world.

Actually, I don’t think I can honestly say I’ve ever had any other lobster risotto, so technically I don’t have authority to declare it the best in the world, BUT I promise you…It was heavenly. Everything about my dish was above and beyond my expectations.

I also sampled a few bites of my sister’s fish tacos and my mom’s black bean salad. Oh yeah. Maybe a few bites of the award winning mac and cheese too.

I was overwhelmed with pure goodness for most of the meal. So many delicious things coming from all directions!

Although we were just about stuffed by then end of dinner, I couldn’t pass up dessert. Our waitress recommended the Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake ($8) so we decided to get a slice to split. Thankfully my dear friends let me have more than my fair share of bites, or maybe I was just a little agressive with my fork and forced the others away.

This cake is one of their several gluten free menu items, in case that is of interest to you. I didn’t even realize that until we had just about finished the piece, but you would never know the difference. It tasted like any other gluten-filled cake I’ve ever had.

If you can’t tell, I love this place. It’s a Charleston MUST for locals or visitors alike.

They have plenty of options to suit any palate or dietary need, so there’s really no excuse not to give it a try.

You guys. Ohhhh my goodness. I’m dying over my dinner from Crave last night. You want to know how good it was? So good that I, Brittany “Dessert-Obsessed-As-in-I-Have-to-Have-it-Every-Night” Dahn, passed up dessert in turn for finishing off my leftovers later at night.

A friend and I (Hi, Kaitlyn!) were supposed to grab sushi before our painting class. I looked up a place that was supposed to be in the same shopping center as the art studio, but after driving around for a few minutes, we didn’t see it and didn’t have much time to keep looking. Crave was right there and since I’ve read such good things about it from Christina, I was excited to give it a try.

I had to make a quick choice, which can be really difficult for me when I haven’t planned ahead and researched the menu. (I had already narrowed down the sushi rolls I wanted, but obviously that was no help now).

I was torn between the Cobb Salad and the Spinach and Tomato Grilled Cheese. Our waitress said both were very good, but said the grilled cheese in particular was really amazing. From my picture above, you already know which I picked. I figured you can get a good salad at a lot of places, but it’s not everywhere you see a grilled cheese on the menu made with goat cheese (!!!!!), provolone, spinach and tomato. If I see goat cheese listed in the menu description, I can’t get my mind off of it.

The sandwich was everything I hoped it would be and more. And then there were the sweet potato chips – which are really thick-cut round crinkle fries. I could not stop eating those, they were seriously addicting.

This morning I did the longest run that I’ve done in probably two years. I’m attributing that accomplishment to my meal last night. It must have magically powers.

Needless to say, I can’t wait to go back to Crave. I would love to have this sandwich again, but there are many other things I’m looking forward to trying too. They even have weekend brunch including pancakes, which are apparently the “biggest pancakes you will ever see” according to the menu. Count me in.

Oh yeah, and after I tweeted to Executive Chef Landen Ganstrom about my fabulous meal, he said:

A few months ago I was introduced to the cheese and apple combination. Now that I think about it, I always knew the two went well together. Cheese plates are often served with fruits like apples and grapes. And I love a good cheese plate (wine required).

I was pleasantly surprised when I tried the sandwich for the first time, but kind of forgot about it until yesterday. I didn’t have any regular bread in the house, but did have Arnold Sandwich Thins. I love those things by the way. So that was the first variation. The second? I have been dying for a grilled cheese sandwich, and thought a grilled apple and cheese sandwich would be just as good!

Well, I was only partly right. It was good. But I liked it better on normal sandwich bread. Sandwich thins don’t toast as well. As much as I love them, they are best left in their natural form.

I also used provolone cheese, when cheddar is really the way to go. I knew this instantly after my first bite, so I jumped up from my seat to grab the cheddar and tucked some inside the sandwich. The cheddar helped liven up the sandwich, in flavor and color. And we all know how important it is for the food to look pretty. I really liked the combination of different cheeses, rather than just one over the other.

Unfortunately, I was too hungry to get this cheesy model back in a presentable condition for photographs. I ate her without giving her a second chance with the camera.

It may not look like anything fancy, and it’s not, but if you need a light, simple sandwich to throw together, this is a good choice.

But it can use some work. I’ll let you know when it reaches perfection 🙂

Have you ever made grilled apple and cheese sandwiches? Are there any other ingredients that go well with them?

Cheesy Apple Sandwich

Makes 1 sandwich

Ingredients:

1 Sandwich thin (or two slices of your choice of bread)

2 teaspoons butter

1/3 medium apple, sliced

1-2 slices of cheese (I recommend using at lease one slice of cheddar)

Directions:

1. Heat skillet over medium heat. Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread.

2. Place one slice of bread, butter-side down on skillet and top with cheese and apple slices. Lay other slice of bread on top, butter-side up.